Cushion,process and apparatus for making the same



May 12, 1970 M. D; LE VA N 3,5l0,8 %;8

CUSHION, PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed July 25, 1968 FI G. 4

INVENTOR MARTIN D. LE VAN BY vi /W ATTORNEY United States Patent O3,510,888 CUSHION, PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME MartinDouglas Le Van, Wilmington, DeL, assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemonrsand Company, Wilmington,

Del., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 25, 1968, Ser. No. 747,554Int. Cl. A47g 9/00 US. Cl. 337 16 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aresilient pillow having smooth, wrinklefree top and bottom surfacescomprised of compressed textile fiber filling material of a battingencapsulated and held in a compressed resilient state by a covering, thefilling material having an accordion-like fold in opposite sides alignedWith and adjacent to the longitudinal sides of the pillow to maintainthe top and bottom surfaces of the pillow in a taut and wrinklefreestate and to absorb any creases from the filling material surface whileproviding a pillow of increased durability. Also disclosed is a processfor preparing the pillow and an apparatus useful in carrying out theprocess.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention isconcerned with the manufacture of pillows. It is particularly concernedwith the manufacture of pillows from fiber batts and with that step inmanufacturing in which the rolled batts are inserted into the ticks orcoverings. The invention includes the product, the process for makingthe product, and an apparatus useful in carrying out the process to makethe product.

Description of the prior art Heretofore when rolled batts of fibers havebeen stuffed into pillow coverings, the surface of the filling materialhas become wrinkled and creased and the resulting pillow is not smooth.When feathers or loose fibrous materials are used to fill the coverings,there is no problem of wrinkling.

It has been the practice in placing filling materials in pillowcoverings to squeeze the materials into a cylindrical container smallerin circumference than the covering, then push the materials out of thecylinder as the cylinder is withdrawn from the covering. This alsoleaves creases or wrinkles in the surface of the material and the pillowis not smooth. Both types of operation are labor consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides means of fillingpillows with fiber filling materials in a time-saving manner whichleaves no creases or wrinkles in the top or bottom surfaces of thepillow while providing a resilient pillow of increased durability. Thisis accomplished by compressing the filling materials by applying a forceto the sides of the material along a narrow strip such that a large,regular crease or indentation is made in the sides of the material, andthen placing the compressed material into the covering and removing thecompressing force.

The product of this invention is defined as a resilient pillow havingsmooth, wrinklefree top and bottom surfaces that are convex as viewedfrom outside the pillow and terminating adjacent to each other to formthe longitudinal sides of the pillow; said pillow being comprised of aresilient, compressed textile fiber filling material of a battingencapsulated and held in a compressed resilient state by a covering;said filling material having an accordionlike fold in opposite sideswith the folds being aligned with "ice and adjacent to the longitudinalsides of the pillow to maintain the top and bottom surfaces of thepillow in a taut and wrinklefree state and to absorb any creases fromthe filling material surface while providing a pillow of increaseddurability. The species include batting materials of polyethyleneterephthalate fibers having a spiral crimp, staple fibers, and specieswherein the fibers of the batt are resin-bonded to one another atcrossover points to provide increased resiliency. The staple fibersexemplified are of a length within the range of about 2 to 4 incheshaving a denier per filament within the range of about 1 to 6. In apreferred species the filling material is a roll of a cross-lapped battand the opposed accordion-like folds are parallel to the longitudinalaxis of the roll.

The apparatus portion of applicants invention is defined as being in anapparatus for inserting compressible filling material into a covering toform a pillow which includes a pair of opposed, mounted, driven beltsspaced apart and converging from an entrance end to an exit end todefine a material compressing and conveying zone, a housing having openends surrounding the exit end of the belts and adapted to receive thefilling material inside one end and to receive the covering over theopposite end, the improvement of a member having a thin edge mounted oneach side of the zone between the belts and in the vicinity of theentrance end of the zone with the edges extending into the zone toprovide opposed folds to resilient materials passing therebetween. Inthe most preferable species of the invention the thin-edged member is afreely rotatable disc and the distance between the edges of the membersis from 2 to 3 times the distance between the belts in the vicinity ofthe thin-edged members.

Applicants process is defined as the process for making a pillow havingsmooth, wrinklefree, and resilient top and bottom surfaces of aresilient, compressible textile fiber filling material encapsulated by acover which comprises; applying a force along a narrow strip on oppositesides of the filling material to provide indentations; compressing thetop and bottom of the material having the indentations in opposite sidesto provide an accordion-like fold in each side between the top andbottom surfaces; and inserting the compressed material with theaccordion-like folds into a cover of a size smaller than the size of theinitial filling material to form a resilient, wrinklefree pillow inwhich the filling material is maintained in a compressed state therebykeeping the folds in the sides of the material to absorb any wrinklecausing creases and to keep the cover taut.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Battings of non-woven fibers suchas polyester fiberfill are normally rolled or folded to dimensionssuitable for filling bed pillows or other products such as upholsteredfurniture cushions. As an example, a bed pillow having a finished sizeof 20 inches by 26 inches is normally filled with a batting 12 feet inlength, 2 feet in width and 1 to 3 inches thick, the batting beingrolled up before placing in the pillow. The rolled batt, beforecompressing, is larger than the capacity of the pillow, so that thepillow will be tight and resilient. Thus, it is necessary to compressthe batt to get it into the pillow, and this tends to leave creases inthe batting. The practice has been to stuff the batting into a cylinderor funnel and force it into the pillow covering. This leaves creasesrandomly distributed over the surface of the pillow.

In the present invention the sides of the filling material are creasedalong a narrow strip while being compressed to provide large creases oraccordion-like folds on the sides and to contract the volume of the battso that it can readily be placed in the covering. Any creases left Willbe uniform and regular along the sides of the pillow,

and the top and bottom of the pillow will be smooth as the side foldsabsorb any creases or wrinkles occurring on the material surface.

In the simplest form of the invention, two rods are used, one on eachside of the batt, to crease the sides of the batt while the top andbottom surfaces are being compressed. In a more refined version, therods are replaced by thin wheels.

The invention is more easily understood by reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 is an end view of a roll of batting ready for inserting in acover for a pillow.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a roll of batting.

FIG. 3 is an end view of a roll of batting compressed by means of wheelsalong the side and conveyor belts on top and bottom.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the wheel and conveyor belt apparatus.

Now, referring to FIG. 1, the roll of batting will vary in sizeaccording to the length and thickness of the batting from which the rollis formed and also according to the tightness of the rolling. Thus, notonly the size of the pillow but also its softness or hardness can becontrolled.

FIG. 3 is an end view of a refined mechanism for filling pillows. Inthis drawing the batt 1 is compressed by thin wheels 3 on each side andcarried between two conveyor belts 4 at top and bottom. The wheel iscarried by the shaft 5 on support 6.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 showing the arrangementof the wheels 3, the conveyor-compressing belts 4, the housing 7, thepillow cover 8 and the conveyor driving means 9. Only one of the twowheels is visible in this schematic drawing as they are directlyopposed.

In operation, a roll of batting is placed between the wheels 3 which arepreferably friction driven by the advancing material but which may bepower driven, if desired. The batt is engaged and compressed by theconverging conveyor belts and carried through the housing 7 and out ofthe housing into the covering 8.

Any fibrous materials may be used in making the batt, but polyesterfibers are especially suitable for pillows because of their resiliency.

The wheels and conveyor belts are adjustable in the distance between thetwo wheels in one case and between the two conveyor belts in the othercase. This allows the production of pillows of various sizes and shapes.

The wheels in FIGS. 3 and 4 can be replaced by suitable creasing meanssuch as a pair of rods.

In addition to producing smooth pillows, the apparatus of this inventionis labor saving.

A further advantage of this invention is that the fiber being forced tothe center of the batting by the horizontal compression causes thefinished pillow crown height to increase approximately 10-15% andimproves volume durability by 5% EXAMPLE I Polyethylene terephthalatefibers of 4.25 denier and 2 inch (5.08 cm.) length having a helicalcrimp are processed through a garnett machine to open the mass of fibersand form a web and then cross-lapped into a batt structure. The surfaceof the batt is sprayed with a 5% emulsion of a resin to bond the fiberswithin the batt to one another at cross-over points and to giveincreased resiliency to thebatt. The composition of the resin emulsionis as follows:

Parts Dimethylpolysiloxane 8.5 Methylhydrogen-polysiloxane 5.5Polysiloxane/polyoxyethylene block copolymer 36.0 Acrylic emulsion 50.0Water 2000.0

The block copolymer contains 28% by weight of dimethylpolysiloxane and72% polyoxyethylene.

The acrylic resin is made by polymerizing the following composition:

Parts Ethyl acrylate 46.3

Methyl methacrylate 48.0

N-methylolmethacrylamide 4.7

Methacrylic acid 1.0

The emulsion as applied contains 0.32% of a tin diacetate/zinc octanoatecuring catalyst.

After spraying the surface, the batting is turned over and the oppositeside is sprayed with the above resin. The final batting is 1.1 inches(2.8 cm.) thick and 24 inches (60.96 cm.) in width. The resin-treatedbatt is passed through an oven at 138 C. to dry it and cure the resin.The batting contains 2.35% resin on a dry-weight basis.

A length of the batting is rolled up to give a roll having a diameter of16 inches (40.6 cm.) and a density of 7.5 oz./ cu. ft. (7.5 kg./ cu.meter). The roll of batting is passed through the apparatus shown inFIGS. 3 and 4 in such manner that deep creases are made in the sides ofthe roll by the friction-driven wheels 3 and the roll is compressed fromtop and bottom by the belt 4. The top and bottom belts are 4 inches (10cm.) apart at the front and 3 inches (7.5 cm.) apart at the exit. Thebelt 4 carries the compressed batting roll into the covering 8. Theperimeters of the wheels are 10 inches (25.4 cm.) apart. The covering isclosed by a zipper. The resulting pillow is smooth on top and bottomsurfaces and creased on each side with a single, deep, uniform creasethat absorbs any wrinkles otherwise appearing on the surfaces.

What is claimed is:

1. A resilient pillow having smooth, wrinklefree top and bottom surfacesthat are convex as viewed from outside the pillow and terminatingadjacent to each other to form the longitudinal sides of the pillow;said pillow being comprised of a resilient, compressed textile fiberfilling material of a batting encapsulated and held in a compressedresilient state by a covering; said filling material having anaccordion-like fold in opposite sides with the folds being aligned withand adjacent to the longitudinal sides of the pillow to maintain the topand bottom surafces of the pillow in a taut and wrinklefree state and toabsorb any creases from the filling material surface while providing apillow of increased durability.

2. The pillow as in claim 1 wherein the batt is of polyethyleneterephthalate fibers having a helical crimp.

3. The pillow as in claim 1 wherein the batt is of staple fibers.

4. The pillow as in claim 1 wherein the fibers of the batt areresin-bonded to one another at crossover points to provide increasedresiliency.

5. The pillow as in claim 1 wherein the fibers are of a length withinthe range of about 2 to 4 inches and have a denier per filament withinthe range of about 1 to 6.

6. The pillow as in claim 1 wherein the filling material is a batt ofcross-lapped webs, the batt being rolled-up and the opposedaccordion-like folds being parallel to the longitudinal axis of theroll.

7. The pillow as in claim 6 wherein one of the folds occurs along theportion of the roll at which the edge of the batting terminates to maskthe discontinuity.

8. In an apparatus for inserting compressible filling material into acovering to form a pillow which includes a pair of opposed, mounted,driven belts spaced apart and converging from an entrance end to an exitend to define a material-compressing-and-conveying zone, a housinghaving open ends surrounding the exit end of the belts and adapted toreceive the filling material inside one end and to receive the coveringover the opposite end, the improvement of a pair of members for shapingthe filling material, each member having a thin edge mounted on eachside of the zone between the belts and in the vicinity of the entranceend of the zone with the edges extending into the zone to introduce afold in each side of the resilient materials passing therebetween.

9. The apparatus as in claim 8 wherein the thin-edged member is a freelyrotatable disc.

10. The apparatus as in claim 8 wherein the distance between the edgesof the members is from 2 to 3 times the distance between the belts inthe vicinity of the thinedged members.

11. The apparatus as in claim 8 wherein the thin-edged members aremounted midway between the belts at the entrance end of the zone.

12. The process for making a pillow having smooth, wrinklefree, andresilient top and bottom surfaces of a resilient, compressible textilefiber-filling material encapsulated by a cover which comprises; applyingpressure along a narrow strip on opposite sides of the filling materialto form indentations; compressing the top and bottom of the materialhaving the indentations in opposite sides to provide an accordion-likefold in each side between the top and bottom surfaces; and inserting thecompressed material with the accordion-like folds into a cover of a sizesmaller than the size of the initial filling material to form aresilient, wrinklefree pillow in which the filling material ismaintained in a compressed state thereby keeping the folds in the sidesof the material to absorb any wrinkle-causing creases and to keep thecover taut.

13. The process as in claim 12 wherein the cover has one end sealedprior to the insertion of the compressed material and the other end issealed after insertion of the material.

14. The process as in claim 12 wherein the filling material is of across-lapped batt of polyethylene terephthalate staple fibers having ahelical crimp.

15. The process as in claim 12 wherein the filling material is a roll ofa cross-lapped batt and the pressure is applied along a narrow strip oneach side of the roll parallel to the longitudinal axis of the roll.

16. The process as in claim 12 wherein the filling material is of across-lapped batt of staple fibers in which the fibers are resin-bondedto one another at cross-over points to provide increased resiliency.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,068,355 7/1913 McComb 5--3371,876,591 9/1932 Bawden 5-339 2,837,145 6/1958 Goetz 5337 3,290,70412/1966 Willis 5-337 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner

